Category: Restaurant Economics

Touch the Soil News #1001 (Feature photo – Subway Restaurant – CCA SA 4.0 International) Word is out that Subway Sandwiches is planning to close an estimated 500 locations in the U.S. This comes on the heels of closing some 800 locations in the U.S. last year. At the same time, plans are to open 1,000 new restaurants around the world. One wonders what this says about economics – or better yet – the purchasing power of folks here at home. Is it possible that competition coupled with stagnant wages is limiting the number of jobs and industry? Overall, Subway has approximately 44,000 locations in 112 countries according to its…

Touch the Soil News #939 (Feature photo – Fight for $15 – CCA SA 2.0 Generic) QSR magazine – the voice of quick service restaurants – just reported that same store traffic through the nation’s restaurants in January 2018 was down a significant 3 percent from January 2017. In other news, fast food workers were protesting in Kansas City on Monday trying to bring into the national debate the problems of low wages. Now, from a banking perspective, it’s all about cash flow. Is there a correlation between the recent protests for higher wages – people unable to afford basics – and the weak national cash flows that contributed to…

Touch the Soil News #813 (Feature photo – Michael Rivera – CC SA 4.0) As consumers, we often think that a primary measure of the success of capitalism is a low – and easily affordable price. But how low can prices go and still keep the family employed? Deflation is when the price of something keeps going down and down. In its chronic state, a collapse in prices is what brings on a great depression. It’s a spooky spiral in which wages go down and then prices go down to catch up with lower wages, which means wages and prices must go down again in an attempt to catch up.…

Touch the Soil News #750 (feature photo – A Fast Food Employee – CC SA 3.0) As we’ve always said, the food chain is ripe with insights about ourselves and the economy. The restaurant business is considered part of the larger “hospitality” industry that includes lodging and resorts. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that annual employee turnover rates in the restaurants and accommodations sector peaked in 2007 at a whopping 80.7 percent. It is hard to imagine the training and learning challenges of an industry in which almost 81 employees out of a 100 at the beginning of the year will leave for a number of reasons. The…

Touch the Soil News #525 In this era of less-than-abundant natural resources, it is not unusual to see vacant lots and perfectly good buildings sitting idle and just going to waste. Unfortunately with the emergence of idle facilities also comes the demise of jobs and companies that were occupying those facilities. As we have always said, the food chain is one of the more interesting places to gain economic insights about our lives and economics. Rather accidental, a handful of statistics about the restaurant sector has come into our hands that weigh in on the vacant buildings in cities. In recent months, 10 companies overseeing 17 restaurant chains have filed…